Which football stadium is closest to water?

Plus: Djimi Traoré: Record breaker?' ; Have a husband and wife ever been sent off in the same match?; and Why are Hellas Verona so called? Send your questions and answers to
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Closest to a canal (or several canals): Stadio Pierluigi Penzo, home of Venezia. A bonkers ground in a bonkers city.

Closest to a moat: "AFC Portchester used to play their home games inside Portchester Castle on the outskirts of Portsmouth," writes Ian Cade. "This led to the peculiarity of having a moat directly behind one of the goals. Wayward shots, of which there were many, ended up bobbing around in it encouraging local youngsters to throw stones at the balls trying to get them close to the banks. Alas, English Heritage stopped the playing of sports inside the castle about 10 years ago so this unique Sunday league ground is nowt but a memory." The pitch used to be on the square of grass on the right of this picture. You can see the most circling the keep.

Most misleading stadium name based on watery location:Estadio Gigante de Arroyito (Giant of the Little Stream Stadium). Little Stream? Looks more like a massive river to us. And indeed it is – it's the Paraná River, the second longest in South America (behind the Amazon). Thanks to Jon Allison for that one.

Laziest builders:Citrus Bowl, Orlando. "The Citrus Bowl (used for the 1994 World Cup and 1996 Olympic football tournament), has decided to forego a stand at one end and instead has opted for a lake," notes Ian Cade.

Klokkerhagen in Mo i Rana, Norway. " As you can see, the pitch just fits on one of the bends of the Revelen river," writes Morten Josefson. "So any shot that missed the target, on either side, had a pretty good chance of ending up in the water. We even used the river as a way of wasting time when we were trying to close off tight games."

Britain

Hillsborough, home of Sheffield Wednesday, is encircled by the River Don

Stade Marcen Saupin, Nantes. "Back in the early '80s while on holiday in France we attended a couple of games at Nantes' old stadium," writes Brendan Mackinney. "This was right next to the Loire and I'm pretty certain we sat at the back of a stand that projected out over the river. I remember discussing with my family that this design could be used at our home town club, Nottingham Forest, to build a larger stand next to the river Trent." The Marcen-Saupin did indeed loiter in the banks of the Loire. Nantes, though, departed in 1984.

DJIMI TRAORÉ: RECORD BREAKER?

"When Liverpool won the Champions League in 2005, they had a certain Malian international Djimi Traoré in the squad," wrote Edward Crick last week. "At the time of the final Mali were ranked at a lowly 61. Which player comes from the lowest ranked international team at the time of them winning a Champions League winners medal?"

The much maligned Mr Traoré doesn't even make the top 10. McDonald Mariga of Inter and Kenya has a winner's medal from last years final, though he never made it off the bench. Nor did Lithuania's Edgaras Jankauskas when winning the cup with Porto in 2004. Zvonimir Boban is the Champions League winner from the lowest ranked national side to have started in the final, though the caveat is that Croatia was little more than three years old when Milan won the title in 1994.

1) McDonald Mariga 2009-10

Inter and Kenya (world ranking 113) (unused sub)

2) Edgaras Jankauskas 2003-04

Porto and Lithuania (108) (unused sub)

3) Zvonimir Boban 1993-94

Milan and Croatia (102)

4) Eidur Gudjohnsen 2008-09

Barcelona and Iceland 94 (unused sub)

5) Kakha Kaladze 2006-07 Milan and Georgia (92)

6) Kakha Kaladze 2002-03

Milan and Georgia (84)

7) Ryan Giggs 1998-99

Man Utd and Wales (82)

8) Elvir Baljic 1999-2000

Real Madrid and Bosnia & Herzegovina (76) (unused sub)

9) Hasan Salihamidzic 2000-01

Bayern Munich and Bosnia & Herzegovina (72)

10) Dwight Yorke 1998-1999

Manchester United and Trinidad & Tobago (71)

But both Mariga and Boban's claims on the crown are loosened by Massimo Bonini. "Bonini won the European Cup in 1985 with Juventus," explains Dara Higgins, "and played international football for San Marino, turning down the chance to play for Italy in order to turn out for the smallest country in Europe, who at the time weren't recognised by Fifa."

WEDDED BLISS

"Have a husband and wife ever been sent off in the same match?" wonders Steve Turner.

Indeed they have. Back in December 1999 Bristol Rovers were taking on Oxford United in the South-west Women's Combination league. Midway through the match an Oxford player appeared to handle the ball, but the referee was unmoved. A livid Mandy Gornicki-Bond furiously protested, and was promptly shown a red card, despite her insistence that her remarks had not been directed at the official.

The decision infuriated the Rovers manager, who just happened to be Mandy's husband Bill. Angered by the perceived injustice he strode on to the pitch to confront the official. Bill, a policeman and class one referee, later insisted that he had not been abusive, but he too was sent to the stands.

KNOWLEDGE ARCHIVE

"Regarding Italian side Hellas Verona, the word Hellas means Greece. Was the team originally founded by Greeks?" wondered Lazaros Spiropoulous back in 2005.

You're on the right lines, Lazaros. "In 1903, a group of students from the 'Maffei' grammar school in Verona founded a football club," explains Robert Blyth, a senior researcher at the Universita' di Lecce. "They were aided by some of their teachers, notably the teacher of Greek, one Professor Corrubulo, who suggested the name 'Hellas' for the team." For more information on Verona - and a cracking read, besides - check out Tim Park's excellent A Season With Verona.

Can you help?

"Are Davide and Aldo Simoncini the first twins to score own goals in the same international (Sweden 6-0 San Marino last week)?" ponders Ian Kay.

"After Stefan Schwarz's space ban, which other contracts have had bizarre clauses inserted in them?"

"In last week's Euro 2012 qualifier, Xavier Andorrà, a striker for FC Andorra, came off the bench for his national side, Andorra," writes Liam McGuigan. "Bringing to mind Wolfsburg's erstwhile coach Wolfgang Wolf, are there any more interesting examples of nominative determinism at work in the game?"

"Starting from their home ground for every away trip, which fans would have the shortest distance to travel to visit every other English league ground?" wonders Ian Cade. "Our thinking was that it would be somewhere in the Midlands or north west, with perhaps Stoke being the compromise …"

"I noticed Borrusia Dortmund fans in the video for the great Pet Shop Boys track 'London'," writes Ivan Todd. "Have any other football fans found there way into music videos?"